For financial institutions of any size the decision to adopt real-time payments via The Clearing House’s RTP® network requires a thoughtful business case—one rooted in customer need, revenue opportunity, and strategic implementation. Leaders from First Internet Bank and Veridian Credit Union recently shared how they navigated this journey, offering a blueprint for peers who are considering adding instant payments to their payments toolbox.

For Kathy Duffer, Vice President of Payment Operations at First Internet Bank, the move into instant payments started with fintech partnerships. “We had fintech clients already in the real-time space,” she explained, “and that drove urgency to support send and receive capabilities.” What followed was an internal education effort and the work to gain executive buy-in. But Duffer emphasized that customer insights were critical. “We surveyed our small business and commercial customers to understand demand, and it was a unanimous yes—they wanted real-time capabilities, and many were willing to pay for it.”

Colin Eagan, Real-Time Payments Administrator at Veridian Credit Union, shared a similar story. Their initial business case was spurred by fintechs seeking to bring instant payment services in-house. But Veridian quickly recognized the broader potential. “We knew we didn’t want this to be just about fintechs. We built out internal use cases for our members as well.” That dual-purpose strategy—balancing commercial partnerships with member service innovation—proved vital.

Unique Business Cases for RTP
Mark Majeske, Senior Vice President of Faster Payments at Alacriti, the technology provider that helped to enable instant payments for both Veridian Credit Union and First Internet Bank, agrees that there are many approaches and use cases for leveraging the RTP network. “It really is all about your customers or your members when it comes to products and services,” Majeske said. “But at the end of the day, they don't think about instant payments. They just see what they can do and how it makes moving money easier. It's important … to do a focus group with your customers or members to get an idea about what they want to do. Every financial institution has a unique customer base, and each institution that Alacriti has worked with has had a different business case for instant payments,” he added.

A key insight from both institutions: building the case for joining the RTP network isn’t just about today’s needs, but tomorrow’s opportunities. Eagan highlighted Veridian’s strategy of leveraging instant payments to modernize payments overall, potentially replacing ACH for many use cases.

Once live, the results came quickly. First Internet Bank saw increased deposits tied to receive functionality on the RTP network, with customers often moving funds into higher-yield accounts. Veridian experienced similar gains and unexpected volume, even from day one. “We were shocked at the initial volume,” Eagan said, citing P2P payments, gig economy disbursements, real estate settlements, and tax refunds as key drivers.

The transition wasn’t without challenges—especially on the send side. Veridian encountered some technical hurdles as members shifted from ACH to instant payments. Still, Eagan said these issues were quickly resolved through good data, clear messaging, and strong collaboration with their digital banking provider.

Analyze Payments Data

Their advice to peers? Survey your customers, understand your data, and don’t underestimate the demand. Both Duffer and Eagan recommend starting with receive, but emphasize that send should closely follow. “We delayed send, and I wish we hadn’t,” said Duffer. Eagan added, “Look beyond your first use case. Build broadly, analyze your ACH and transfer data, and think long-term.”

As RTP adoption accelerates, financial institutions of all sizes are proving they can compete on speed and innovation—if they prepare thoughtfully and leverage what they already know best: what their customers want and need.